CHAPTER 2. Family Dinner ?

　　The dining hall is silent other than the soft clanking of silverware against the ceramic plates. Father sat at the head of the table, gaze fixed upon his dinner while his second wife, Lady Marie and her three children, Frederick, Elina and Lilian sat by the left side of the table. On his right side was where my mother, Isabelle and my brother, Aiden sat.?

　　“Are you not going in, Your Highness?” the guard who stood by the partially opened door questioned.?

　　I was once again late for dinner, after losing track of time when I was studying earlier. Usually I would get Anne, my lady-in-waiting to fetch me my dinner to eat in my room but today, I decided that I should at least show my face to my family as a courtesy. But how could I possibly enter the dining hall now when they had already started eating.?

　　“Well …” I started.

　　“Cordelia.” a voice from the other side of the door called out. The guard gave me an apologetic look before pulling the door wide open. I stood there awkwardly, not sure what I should do at that point. “Come in and join us.” my father called out.?

　　“Y-Yes…father. I apologise for my tardiness.” I muttered quickly as I entered the hall and took my seat next to Aiden. He glanced over at my direction and raised his eyebrow. Before I could respond to him, someone cleared their throat.?

　　“Good of you to join us, Cordelia. It has been so long since I’ve seen you. You surely have grown into such a beautiful young lady.” Lady Marie complimented, although her words were sweet and kind, the smirk on her face said otherwise.?

　　I forced myself to wear my politest smile. “Thank you, Lady Marie.” I said as my dinner was placed in front of me. I reached out for my silverware, ready to eat my food when Lady Marie let out a soft sigh.

　　“But I’ve heard of your…late comings, Cordelia. Is it true that you have not experienced your rut yet? At your age? Truly unbecoming of an alpha…” she pressed. The quiet dining hall was now suffocatingly silent as I felt all eyes on me.?

　　I had a feeling this topic was going to be mentioned, especially since all my half-siblings and even my younger brother of two years have experienced their rut and have been introduced to high society whereas I…

　　“That’s exactly true, Lady Marie. The doctor says that I’m a late bloomer.”?

　　Someone snickered and my gaze fell on Lady Marie’s youngest daughter, who was the same age as Aiden. She attempted to hide the fact that she laughed by politely wiping the edge of her lips with the napkin.?

　　“Is something funny, Lilian?” my mother asked, her smile elegant on her beautiful face and yet her glare was something to be frightful of.

　　Lilian tensed and shook her head slightly. “O-Of course not, Lady Isabelle. I merely choked on my potatoes.” she let out an innocent giggle.?

　　“But it is rather concerning, do you not think so, Your Majesty?” Lady Marie turned to my father. There was a pause before my father’s gaze met mine. His glacial stare caused the fine hairs of my arms to rise.

　　“There is no point in talking about this,” he announced.

　　“But, father, it is indeed unnatural. Any normal alpha—” Frederick, Lady Marie’s oldest started.?

　　“Cordelia is anything but normal.” Elina, the middle child of Lady Marie chimed in. Lilian giggled openly at her sister’s statement.?

　　“Hey—” Aiden was about to talk back but I took hold of his arm, stopping him from saying anything else.

　　“Could it be that she is not an alpha after all?” Lilian questioned under her breath.

　　“She sure doesn’t act like one.” Elina gave me a dirty look.?

　　“Such insolence!” My mother gasped.?

　　My father placed his silverware on the table loudly, causing all of us to look in his direction. “There is no need to dwell on this topic any further.” he merely said and with that, the dining hall was back to complete silence. My appetite had completely vanished.?

　　*

　　“Lady Marie failed to properly educate those two little brats of hers. Frederick is the only decent child of hers!” my mother complained once we had retreated to one of the common rooms. “How dare they insinuate that you are not an alpha!”?

　　“Mother, please calm down…” I told her, getting anxious by watching her pace back and forward around the room.?

　　“Mother is right, Cordelia. How can you just sit there and take such insults from them?” Aiden added.?

　　“...I’m used to it.” I told him, remembering my childhood where they would torment me just for the fun of it. “Besides, it doesn’t matter to me.”?

　　“It matters to me!” Mother grumbled. “They act all high and mighty because they are the emperor’s second family. How ridiculous.”?

　　I sighed as I plopped down on the couch, mentally exhausted from having to deal with all these family drama at this point. “Just ignore them, mother.”?

　　The couch dipped when mother suddenly sat down beside me. She then reached out to hold my face, forcing me to look at her. “How can I do that when they are blatantly insulting you, my dearest Cordelia!” she whined.?

　　“Th-that’s just…” for some reason I wanted to agree with what Elina and Lilian had said earlier. It is not natural for my rut to be this late when I’m supposedly an alpha. Ever since I was a child, that idea was pushed into me just because everyone in the family—in our bloodline had been alphas.

　　“It’s probably due to your poor health from when you were a child that is affecting you.” Aiden suddenly mentioned.

　　Mother tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “That’s right. But now that you are getting healthier and stronger again, your rut will come in no time! You are an alpha, my dearest Cordelia. No matter what anyone says.” she reassured me and yet there was a strange feeling that piled up in the pits of my stomach, the feeling of not being able to fully believe in her words.?

　　The door to the common room was pulled open suddenly, causing us to turn to the figure who stood by the entrance. Almost automatically, we all stood up and bowed to greet his arrival.?

　　“As you were.” my father said with a wave of his hand. There was an awkward pause before he cleared his throat. “I would like to speak to you, Cordelia.”?

　　“Of course, father! Please join us for a cup of tea—”

　　“Alone, if I may.”?

　　I felt myself freeze from those words alone. He had never in my entire life wanted to speak with me alone. From the corner of my eyes I noticed mother and Aiden shifting to move away.?The both of them only gave me a sympathetic look before making their way to the door. They bowed at the emperor before walking past him. The door was shut with a muffled thud. Both of us were unmoving for a long moment until I gestured at the array of tea and desserts in front of me.

　　“T-Tea?”

　　Father shook his head before slowly making his way towards me. “Sit down.” His authoritative voice caused me to immediately sit back on the couch. Another suffocating silence filled the room until he shifted closer to me. I was expecting him to sit down beside me but he just remained standing. “How has your health been lately, Cordelia?”

　　“My health?” I echoed. He nodded once. “I am much healthier now, father. I can even train with? Rodrick without much difficulty—”

　　“You are training with a sword?” he interjected, brows furrowed. “Why have I not heard of this before?”

　　I held my tongue, only remembering that mother made me swear to never bring this up to father when she agreed to allow me to train with a sword. “...I thought that it would be beneficial for me to have such knowledge…father.”

　　His frown only deepened and I was expecting him to scold me but instead his expression softened and he let out a soft sigh. “Be careful not to overwork yourself. You are only getting better now after having such a frail body when you were younger.”?

　　“Rest assured father, I will.”?

　　A long pause followed after that and father’s gaze fell on the many desserts that were on display on the table. “There is no need for you to be ashamed of being a late bloomer, Cordelia.” he then turned his body and made his way to the door.?

　　“Pardon…?” I called out, eyes widened as I did not expect him to utter those words to me. He stopped walking for a moment when he heard me call out.?

　　“Have a good night,” he said before walking out of the door.?

　　All I could do was stare at the now shut door as I slowly came to the realisation that he tried to comfort me. The very man who often treated me like I did not exist when I was a child, was just being…kind to me? I wanted to laugh but at the same time, all I could do was stare at the spot where he last stood, completely and utterly in awe.